Sights and Sounds of the Night

ERE long the clouds were gone, the moon was set;

When deeply blue without a shade of gray,

The sky was fill'd with stars that almost met,

Their points prolong'd and sharpen'd to one ray;

Through their transparent air the milky-way

Seem'd one broad flame of pure resplendent white,

As if some globe on fire, turn'd far astray,

Had cross'd the wide arch with so swift a flight,

That for a moment shone its whole long track of light.

At length in northern skies, at first but small,

A sheet of light meteorous begun

To spread on either hand, and rise and fall

In waves, that slowly first, then quickly run

Along its edge, set thick but one by one

With spiry beams, that all at once shot high,

Like those through vapours from the setting sun;

Then sidelong as before the wind they fly,

Like streaking rain from clouds that flit along the sky.

Now all the mountain-tops and gulfs between

Seem'd one dark plain; from forests, caves profound,

And rushing waters far below unseen,

Rose a deep roar in one united sound,

Alike pervading all the air around,

And seeming e'en the azure dome to fill,

And from it through soft ether to resound

In low vibrations, sending a sweet thrill

To every finger's end from rapture deep and still.

Carlos Wilcox